I, along with hundreds of others, have been searching for the ancestry of our Gottlieb Ebinger(or Gutlip Avinger if you prefer) over the years. He arrived in America at "The Road" in Charleston, SC on 5 Oct. 1766 aboard the ship "Brittania" under Capt. Alex. Hardle from Rotterdam, Holland and Portsmouth, England. He was one of about 500 Palatines whose indentures were to be disposed of by William Hales. He married Mary Horlbeck about 1767 and they settled in Orangeburg Co., SC near the present town of Vance. Gottlieb Ebinger may have been born about 1745 in Germany and may also have lived for a short time in Spanish Florida. From "The 1783 Spanish Census of Florida", there is a reference to "Gotlieb Evinger, a native of Germany who has a wife and two sons and inhabits to the north of the St. John's River in the neighborhood of that settlement" and is said to have been "retired". This description matches up fairly well with the Gutlip Avinger of Orangeburg Co., SC, but what he was doing in Florida is uncertain. Gottlieb Ebinger apparently died in Orangeburg Co., SC sometime between 1825 and 1830.
Mary Horlbeck may have actually been Maria Magdalena Horlbeck and was possibly the sister of John Adam and Peter Horlbeck who who built many buildings in Charleston and also in Europe. This family was probably from the area of Leipzig, Saxony and possibly from the community of Plauen, just north of Leipzig. Mary Horlbeck apparently died prior to 1830 and it is possible that Gottlieb married another woman named Mary prior to his death.
I would like to correrspond with anyone having additional information on these families. You can also contact me at
mhendrix@worldnet.att.net.